


Home is with You

by azulabay



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: 2 bfs and their loyal companions, Aged-Up Character(s), Ash cannot wrap gifts, Christmas Decorations, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whump, bits and pieces of recovery, clemont is kinda a grouch, families meeting each other, like even bonnie is an adult now, one(1) curse word but its still g
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27872058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azulabay/pseuds/azulabay
Summary: Clemont manages to break his arm, but at least Ash is there. It helps.aka my dinky diode day contribution
Relationships: Burnet-hakase | Professor Burnet/Kukui-hakase | Professor Kukui, Citron | Clemont/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	Home is with You

**Author's Note:**

> hey yall! just gonna give you the background info so you can get to the fic:
> 
> this is a aged up fic, so ash & clem are in their mid 20s  
> clem still does the same stuff, but ash's job is doing more champion-y stuff. its not that relevant but i thought i should add it  
> this has my hc that clem is left handed, so thats why hes bum about it  
> also since theyre all aged up, lei isn't with burnet and kukui. hes probably out on a pokemon journey or sum
> 
> and that should be it. Enjoy!

A day like any other, Clemont and Ash woke up and got ready for work. 

Clemont made pancakes and coffee while Ash showered. They ate together at their kitchen island, Ash making a dumb joke using science terminology that only Clemont would laugh at. 

“What did the brother say to his sister when she stepped on his toe? ‘Ow! Mi-toe-sis’!”

“I don’t even study biology,” Clemont said between laughs.

Then they left together, even if Clemont only had to go down a few floors to his workshop.

They were simple. They liked that. It worked.

While Ash left Prism Tower to meet with Alolan league officials, Clemont stayed to work on a commissioned project.  The blueprints were ready and he had most of the parts with him, but he had been waiting on the shipment of his new drill, which had come in the previous night.

It was mindless work, just screwing parts together and making sure everything was secure. Luxray slept nearby on Clemont’s office chair while Chespin and Bunnelby played a game out in the hall, since Clemont didn’t have to work the gym that day.

“The final one...there we go!” He stood from the floor and picked up his device. “I really don’t know why the professors need another model, but I  _ am  _ getting paid,” he mumbled, setting it down on the workbench. He went back to his desk to check his computer, swerving around the scattered machinery on the floor. Luxray purred from his chair. 

“Don’t worry.” Clemont scratched his head. “We’ll get lunch after I try this out.”

He walked back to the workbench and pressed the power button on the device. The screen lit up with the league logo and then his own, a small model of the voltage badge. They both faded back to default white, then the screen went black. 

“Huh? I put a brand new battery in this thing,” he muttered to himself, picking up the dex and trying the power button again. This time, the screen stayed black. “Oh, come on!” 

He tossed it back to the workbench and turned back to Luxray. “Let’s just go get lunch.” Luxray jumped out of the chair and stretched out, walking over to the workbench and sniffing the dex. 

“Lux.” 

Clemont turned around from the door frame. “What? It’s broken.”

“Luxray,” he growled, nudging it with his snout.

Clemont walked back to the workbench, picking it back up. “I told you, it’s—huh?” The device was warm in his hand. Actually, it was heating up fast; the metal casing coming close to burning him. 

Clemont dropped it to the ground with a loud clatter. “Yikes, that’s not good.” He turned to leave. “Let’s get out of here before—”

_ Boom! _

* * *

He remembered the noise more than anything else. Not of the bone cracking, but the explosion. Although he couldn’t tell if it was the same as every other explosion he’d heard. He’d heard a lot of them.

At first, he couldn’t remember what had happened. He just knew something had happened between being at his workshop and wherever he was now. And that most of his body was numb. Being numb wasn’t the best sign.

But it didn’t matter much, because soon he was drifting back to sleep...

* * *

“Hahaha, Satoshi can’t come. Hey, if only we were married, then he could come in, right?” Clemont broke out into hysterical laughter. “Can you imagine? Us, married? ‘You may now kiss your husband’,” he said in a strained, deep voice, mostly likely trying to impersonate some sort of priest, except he had never gone to church in his life.

Bonnie sighed and contemplated if it would be worth his protests to tell him how he acted when he wasn’t completely out of it. “I’m getting coffee, dad. Want anything?”

“I want my husband,” Clemont said, completely serious. 

Meyer chuckled. “No, I’m fine keeping an eye on this one.”

“‘Kay, be right back.” 

As funny as her brother’s antics were, she was drained from the sudden shift in routine. She wasn’t used to taking care of her brother. He was the older one, so he always did everything for her, but now she couldn’t help but feel like she had taken a lot for granted.

But doing normal things helped, like getting coffee. She liked to watch as the cream lightened the color of the coffee while she slowly stirred it in. 

It wasn’t as if it were any good, but it would at least keep her awake to help sort things out. She went to take a sip when her phone rang. 

She read the caller ID, not surprised. “Hi, Ash.”

“ _ Hey, Bonnie. I’m heading out right now. How is he _ ?”

“He’s doing fine, so far. I think the meds he’s on are numbing most of the pain, and making him really out of it, but he’s not really complaining. I mean, not about anything except you.”

“ _ Me? Why?” _

“Well, he thinks that only family can see him because we told him that you weren’t here yet, so then he was spouting nonsense about getting married—”

“ _ Married? _ ” His voice was strained.

“Listen, it’s fine. Everything’s fine. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here. He might even do it for me.”

“ _ I _ — _ If you say so _ ,” he said, clearly disappointed.

“Hey, he just wants to see you. Don’t worry about it.”

“. _..See you soon, Bonnie. _ ”

* * *

Ash didn’t know what to think when he arrived at the hospital. The waiting room was filled with people rushing and moving each direction. If he didn’t want to see his boyfriend so bad, he figured he would have turned around and went home. Thankfully Meyer came out from the hallway and waved him over to the hallway.

“Hey, how’s he doing?” Ash asked.

“Oh, he’s fine, besides the whole injury part. It’s real funny to just sit in there with him, sometimes.” Meyer laughed. “But, he’s still kinda hurtin’ though, so he’s sleeping a lot. He’s just trying to recover.”

“Okay, well, that sounds good. I mean, not good, but better, at least.” 

Gosh, he wanted to scream out how worried he was, but he knew Clemont needed him to be level-headed. He took a deep breath and let Meyer lead him down the hall. 

He almost didn’t notice when Meyer stopped at Clemont’s door, he was so lost in his head. If only he could calm down.  _ It’s just a broken arm _ , he repeated to himself.  _ It’s just a broken arm and a sprained ankle. He’ll be okay. _

And there he was. He was asleep, granted, but he was finally here. He looked just like Ash had left him, except with more bandages. He looked tired, almost worn-out too, but it pained Ash more than he would like to admit that it wasn’t all that uncommon to see it on him.

“Clemont, you got a visitor.” Meyer gently shook his shoulder. 

He slowly shifted in his bed,  _ hospital _ bed, and was started to flutter his eyes awake. “What? You better not be waking me up for nothing.” He rubbed his eyes, empty of his usual glasses. He felt around the bedside table to find them and used his uncasted arm to sit himself up.

“Son, quit standing in the door and get over here,” Meyer told Ash with a laugh, but he couldn’t help but feel like it was a reprimand. Either way, he inched closer until he was at the edge of the bed, the moment Clemont got his glasses on and noticed who was there. 

“Hi.” Ash reached out a hand.

Clemont grabbed his arm and yanked him down on the bed. “You’re here!” 

Ash could feel the knot in his stomach untangle itself. “Yeah, I am,” he laughed out. “How—you just woke up?” he questioned, unsure where the sudden energy burst had come from.

“Well, I’ve kinda been waiting for you, if you couldn’t tell,” Clemont said as they hugged the best they could (Ash was halfway on the bed and Clemont couldn’t even move half of his body).

“I’m sorry, I came as fast I could. Things in Alola were—” 

“Shh, I know. That’s the deal we made when we got together.” Clemont tried his best to squeeze Ash, but with only one working arm, it was a little hard to do so. And as much as Ash wanted to apologize still, he helped Clemont by holding him tighter.

He wanted to stay like that forever and go back to sleep, but Ash pulled away before he got a chance to. He was about to pout until Ash came back to kiss his cheek. He responded with a kiss of his own. Ash then gave him a flurry of kisses and made him giggle and laugh until Ash was laughing too. It was freeing, like when they had first gotten together. The feeling of being able to be with each other and themselves for once.

When they had each calmed down, they let silence fill the room. Even Meyer was just flipping through an old magazine. 

“So…” Ash started.

Clemont looked up to see him messing with the sheets. Was he nervous?

“Look, we don’t have to figure this all out right now. I just wanna—”

“No, no, it’s not that.” Ash waved his hands out in front of him. “You’re smart enough to handle anything, and I’m here for you. It’s just...Bonnie said something about getting married?”

“ _ What? _ ” he asked, going pink. Meyer’s laugh could be heard even from down the hall.

“Is she going into another keeper phase? I swear, that punk—”

“—has been looking after you this whole time and deserves a break,” Meyer interrupted. Besides, you don’t even know the whole story.” 

Clemont groaned in his hand. “Do I even want to know?” Ash grabbed Clemont’s hand and held it in his own.

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad…right?" Ash turned to Meyer who just laughed again.

"I'll let Bonnie tell you."

Clemont sighed and flopped down on the bed, only to let out a grunt of pain.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Ash questioned, bolting upright to try and examine him.

“Do I need to call the nurse?” Meyer asked.

“No, just—I’m fine. It hurts, that’s all.” He waved them off with his uninjured hand. 

Ash saw his whole world collapse. “Clem…” He leaned back down to his good arm to take his hand. He pressed it to his lips, then moved to kiss his forehead. “I just wanna help you.”

“I know. But you being here is help enough,” he whispered back.

* * *

Things were very different now, to say the least. An inventor couldn’t really invent when their arm was tied up in fiberglass and a sling. At least Clembot could take care of the gym.

Clemont hated it. Of course, he just  _ had _ to land on his left arm, the one that would have given him some sort of semblance of normalcy while he recovered, but he guessed that was just wishful thinking. 

It wasn’t like Ash would let him do anything anyway. He made him stay in bed all day when they first got back to their apartment inside Prism Tower. He wasn’t complaining then, but he felt useless now. 

He didn’t know exactly how long it had been since he had left the hospital, but he knew he didn’t have physical therapy today. Which meant he could try to do something around the place.

He decided with Ash gone for the day to organize some champion stuff, it was a good time to finally get out of bed and try to do something productive. 

He went to move the comforter, only for it to weigh at least ten times as much as normal. Did Ash really let all of his partners lay on their bed? Sure enough, when he turned to the other side he was met with a face full of green quills.

He shook Chespin and asked, “A little help?”

“Ches ches!” He hopped up from the bed and down to the floor to use vine whip to lift the blanket up. Clemont took the opening to slip out, leaving Luxray and Bunnelby to sleep in some more. He quickly grabbed his crutch and beckoned Chespin to follow him out to the main room.

He made his way to the kitchen with Chespin having to slow down for him. Once he got there, he leaned on the island, trying to catch his breath.  “Well,” he said between a pant, “We made it.” 

Chespin shrugged and moved to the fridge, once again using his vine whip, this time to open the door. 

Clemont inched over towards him. “Hey, you know I don’t like that.” His protests earned nothing from Chespin, instead he reached into the fridge and pulled out a container of leftovers. Specifically, a pie that Grace had dropped off a few days ago, along with two other casseroles.    
  
Clemont sighed for what seemed like the billionth time. “Whatever, it’s not like Ash and I would finish it anyway.” He was sorry for Grace, but Ash had grown out of his teenage appetite and they both work too much anyway. Err— _ worked. _ Until he could at least walk without a crutch, there wasn’t anything he could really do for a few weeks. 

“Grab me some yogurt, will you?” He moved to the other side of the island and plopped down on a stool. Chespin used his vine whip one last time to place the yogurt container and spoon in front of him. 

As he ate (Yes, out of the container. He knew it was unsanitary and all that other crap, but he didn’t have the strength to care), there was a thought in the back of his mind that something important was actually happening today. He knew his memory was reliable for the most part, so it probably wasn’t anything to worry about. Probably.

He downed as much yogurt as he could, which, given, wasn’t that much, and stood up. “Come on, Chespin. Let’s try and do something nice for Ash before he gets home,” he told his partner, who was still busy shoving pie crumbs in his mouth. “Guess I’m on my own then,” he said, spinning around to leave, hearing Chespin shuffle on his feet. 

They spent the time before Ash got home cleaning and doing chores around the apartment, although Clemont had to admit he barely did anything himself. If anything, it was unofficial PT. 

Luxray and Bunnelby were soon to get up after breakfast, and they helped Clemont make the bed. Then they moved onto picking up the dirty laundry off the floor of their bedroom. Luxray carried the main basket to the washing machine and the three pokemon worked together to get the clothes in the darn thing. Granted, a bunch of clothes ended up on the floor, but they got it done. 

It was lunch time when they entered the main room, ready to thoroughly clean every inch (it’s not like there was anything better to do), until Ash came through the door.

“Hey, what’re you doin’ outta bed?” he asked with a smile. He came over and snaked an arm around Clemont’s waist, leaning in to peck him on the cheek. 

“What are you doing home?” Clemont countered as Pikachu jumped off Ash’s shoulder and joined his partners. “I thought the league wanted you all day.”

“Well, I wanted you all day, so, priorities.” He laughed. “But, no. I snuck away early. Diantha said she wouldn’t tell if I didn’t.” 

“You and your tricks. You know, someday they’re gonna bust you for all things you do.”

“And then what? It’s not like they can get rid of me.” Ash let go and moved over to the coffee table. “Just like we can’t get rid of this, apparently.” He picked up the photo that was lying there. It was him and a Poliwag making a silly face at the camera, back when he wasn’t even a trainer. “Where’d you find this?”

“You’d be surprised what’s under all of our dirty clothes.” 

Ash turned away from the photograph and back to Clemont. “You’ve been cleaning all day?”

“Yeah. Well, mostly these three.” He gestured to the three pokemon, each looking prideful in their own way. 

Ash laughed, rubbing Chespin’s head. “Good job, you guys. Less work for me then.”

“Oh? Were you planning on cleaning?” Clemont asked.

Ash set the picture back down. “Yeah, I thought that’s why you did it for me.”

“Well, I did do it for you, but why would we have to clean? You never care.”

Ash blinked. “Babe? Kukui and Burnet are coming, remember?”

“Oh, that’s what I forgot...shit,” he cursed.

Ash burst out laughing. “It’s not that bad, Clem. The guest room is clean, and that’s what matters. Here, you go lay down and I’ll do the rest.”

“No, I can help—” He tried to protest but Luxray was already biting at his sleeves. 

“See? Even they agree with me.” Ash moved back towards Clemont. “Come on,” he whispered. “Let me take care of you.”

“...Fine.” 

Ash just grinned. “Love you too.”

* * *

“...and then he was all, ‘I want my husband’!” 

Burnet burst out laughing. “He didn’t!”

“He did!” Bonnie insisted, the two of them sinking lower on Ash and Clemont’s loveseat. Kukui looked on in confusion.

Meyer put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, you had to have been there.”

“It still doesn’t make any sense…” Kukui muttered to himself. 

For as long as Ash and Clemont had been dating, Kukui and Burnet had never gotten to meet the man’s family. He and Burnet’s jobs kept them too tied down to Alola, but he was glad they finally made the trip. He supposed they would have had to eventually, but Christmas with the two of them was an added bonus.

Their apartment was decorated far more extravagantly than the previous years, but Clemont guesses that’s what happens when you put Ash and Bonnie in charge of decorating. Meyer seemed to get a good laugh out of the crude crafts the two of them had put together, but Burnet would not stop gushing about how cute they were and how  _ Kukui, why don’t we do things like this? We could even make a masked royal ornament! _

The centerpiece of it all was the ginormous tree Ash had brought home a few days after Clemont got discharged from the hospital. They had the room for it; their apartment had insanely tall ceilings. They just never had a reason to be so frivolous for Christmas. But Clemont was glad they were. Their families were getting along great and even if it all looked cheesy, it made him warm that it was  _ his _ cheesy family Christmas.

He sat on their bed while Ash was on the floor, trying to hastily wrap Kukui’s present. 

“Ash, it’s kinda lame if we leave our own party early.” He didn’t even look up.

“I know, I know. You breaking your arm made me learn how to actually do everything, which isn’t the most time effective in our case.” He taped down the last fold, although it didn’t help much to the overall look. He held it up to Clemont. “What do you think?”

“Uh...it’s the thought that counts?” he tried. 

Ash deflated. 

“It’s not that bad,” Clemont tried to reassure him.

“No,” Ash sighed. “It really is.” He then stood up, present in hand. “But it’s not like Kukui can do any better.”    
  
He extended his other hand to Clemont, who was still giggling at his last remark. “I’m sure he would strangle you for that one.” He took his hand and stood up as well. 

They walked hand-in-hand out to the living room, Clemont realizing that even though he didn’t need his actual crutch, Ash made himself a stand-in anyway.

Pikachu perked up from his spot on Kukui’s lap. “Look who decided to show up, eh?” Meyer said as Pikachu bounded onto Ash’s shoulder. Ash leaned his head towards Pikachu as he settled in his spot.

“Well, perfection takes time,” Ash said as he put the present under the tree. 

Kukui cracked up over that. “Oh, hun…” Burnet started, trying to hide her own smile.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Ash turned back and wrapped his arms around Clemont, them both facing their families. “Like you can do any better, Kukui.”

“Well, that’s not what we’re talking about right now.” He stood up and offered Burnet a hand off the couch. “But I think we should make a toast.”

“Ugh, you were always the cheesy one,” Ash groaned, even though a smile spilled out on his face. 

Meyer motioned for Bonnie to come over by him, every person with someone else as they stood under the glow of the tree lights.

Kukui raised his drink and held Burnet close. “To our hosts.” He gestured to Ash and Clemont. “And to our families coming together.”

Burnet nodded her head. “Cheers.”

“Cheers!” Bonnie giggled. 

Meyer kissed the top of her head. “Cheers.”

Ash turned to face Clemont. “Merry Christmas, baby,” he said, moving in to kiss his cheek. 

He grinned back. “Cheers.” They turned back to their families, all of them dancing to the cheesy Christmas song that came on. 

“What a month…” Ash trailed off. “Maybe you were onto something.”

“What do you mean?” Clemont asked as they moved to sit on the couch. 

“Well, you know. Getting married doesn’t sound all that bad.”

“Ash, I was on drugs,” Clemont deadpanned, only to have Ash laughing like Burnet was earlier.

“I know, I know. But still, it sounds kinda...nice.” 

Clemont turned to Ash, brilliantly grinning as ever. His shining goof, his forever. It...kind of did. 

“Maybe it does. But let’s get past this Christmas party first.”

“That’s for sure.” They sat there a little longer, letting the memories of their families sink into them, hoping to hold onto it as long as they could.

“Chespin, not the punch bowl—! No! No, no, no!” Bonnie’s shouts inside the kitchen could be heard from the living room.

Clemont sighed from his position in Ash’s arms. Ash chuckled. “What did you say about getting through this party?”

“Shut up, dork.”

“Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you guys think! I know i barely made the cut for diode day in my timezone, but i think the two of them have traits that make them really compatiable and so i wanted to write about them and get it in. i also wanted to make it more realistic than fan service-y (like as an actual relationship between two people), bc ik its a problem with a lot of gay ships. anyways i hope yall enjoyed, have an awesome day/night!


End file.
